


The Tiger's Back

by Hammocker



Series: After All You've Done [4]
Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: Angst, Cute, Gen, Hunting, Pre-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 19:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3459050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammocker/pseuds/Hammocker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At least Vaas' time wasn't completely wasted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tiger's Back

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little something I've had tucked away for a long while now, but I didn't feel like it was ready and then I was considering whether it should be tied into my main Far Cry 3 fic, Some Things Never Leave You, because if it's not then it's kind of pointless, but if it is then there's an inevitable sad ending to this story and, you know, I don't like sad endings very much. Speaking of which, minor spoilers for Some Things in this piece if you haven't read up to the the ninth chapter, but it shouldn't be an issue.
> 
> And speaking of Some Things, if anyone's curious, I've got a lot of the chapter done, but it's kind of messy right now and I'm trying to both clean it up and write at the same time and it's a pain so I don't know when that's gonna be done. In the meantime, enjoy this other thing.

Vaas never hunted enough anymore. He had a base, minions, all the drugs and cash he could have ever asked for. He was busy, sure, but that was no excuse to neglect hunting. Hell, he hardly ever enjoyed the simple pleasures that he had learned to appreciate among the Rakyat anymore. He didn't climb trees or stargaze or even just sit and think. Maybe that was only natural; material wealth and power were rather distracting after all. Still, it hung over him like thin mist; ignorable, but slowly driving him out of his mind with every day it remained. He had to go out sooner or later. He had to hunt. He was sure he could just as well as he ever had. So what if his tatau had faded after he left the Rakyat? He was still the king of the jungle and now the terror of Rook Island. Hunting would be no problem for him, just like anything else. And so, that morning, Vaas had approached Carlos.

“Hey, buddy, I'm going out to the island, don't let anyone do stupid shit while I'm gone, okay?”

“Why?” Carlos had asked, blinking slowly.

“'cause I got a itch to kill something with four legs, why you asking me? I don't gotta have a reason to go out, who the fuck do you think I am?”

“Don't be like that,” Carlos said, collected as always. “You don't want someone with you?”

Vaas almost said yes. He would have liked the company, would have liked to have someone to keep him from thinking too hard, but it would defeat the purpose of a hunt if he took a partner. It was supposed to be an exercise of self-sufficiency and instinct. Having help would make Vaas feel weak.

“No,” he insisted. “I gotta do this myself.”

Carlos had looked at him for a few more minutes before nodding. “Okay. Be careful, boss.”

Once that was over with, Vaas headed out to the docks, a machete hanging from his belt. The dockmaster for the morning, Nico, gave him a funny look, but said nothing as he passed by. His very presence faded from Vaas' mind as he hopped on a jet ski and roared out towards the main island.

It took a little more than five minutes to reach the beach across from his island. He hadn't set foot on Rook proper for a while and his heart thumped a beat faster staring at the jungle once more. At first Vaas thought it might be out of recognition, but then he considered the possibility that he might be nervous. A chuckle escaped his throat at the idea and he shook his head before trekking past the beach and into the forest.

Vaas was sure he felt his instincts flooding back to him as he walked beneath the treetops. So much had changed, but he still felt at home here somehow. Of course, it was technically still his home, but he wasn't exactly sleeping under the stars that much anymore. He wasn't even in the jungle that much anymore outside of special occasions. But if he felt okay then that had to be a good sign. In fact, a deer looked to be just ahead, grazing among the underbrush.

Vaas dropped into a crouch. He remembered this, stalking downwind of his prey like a big cat, blade at the ready, watching his-

There was a snap underfoot and the deer's head shot up to glance around. Its eyes fell on him in a second and it darted off without hesitation.

“Fuck!” Vaas snarled before hurrying after the creature. If he couldn't sneak up on it, the very least he could do was pursue and wait for it to tire out.

For a while, maybe twenty minutes or so, Vaas kept up well enough. The chase led him through through inclines, over boulders, and around abandoned shacks. He felt defter than he had for a while, more powerful, more like a proper jungle creature. Every bit of his being felt just right pursuing his prey; he was strong, quick, independent, about to catch his own meal. It was a perfect experience and Vaas couldn't understand how he had lived without it for even a day.

As the edge of the jungle approached, however, Vaas realized that something was wrong. His breathing was labored. His legs were in pain. The animal was farther ahead than ever. That couldn't be right. He remembered being able to run for hours tirelessly not that long ago. Just like he remembered being stealthy. In spite of his memories, though, the reality now was looking very much like this damn deer outrunning him. It was already becoming a speck on the distance as his own movements slowed. Realizing his defeat, Vaas stopped himself in his tracks, wheezing in a heavy breath.

He gave himself a minute to recuperate before turning and heading back into the forest. Vaas couldn't even place where he was exactly anymore. Probably still near one his bases, but maybe not too. Wherever he was, there were probably animals nearby still. Maybe something a little slower than a deer.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt something lumpy under his boot and heard a feline snarl. Before he could react, a sharp pain ripped through him.

“Fucking hell!” Vaas shouted, looking down to find the head of leopard with its teeth sunk into his pants leg. He lashed out with his other foot to strike it on its cheek. It released his leg only to snarl and swipe at his belly with no success. Vaas wanted to retaliate, teach the fucking thing a lesson and have a prize to show for it, but before he could land a hit on the leopard's throat, it made a u-turn away from him and disappeared into the plants.

Bewildered and breathing erratically once more, he leaned down to check for any damage to his leg. As he did so, Vaas considered his situation. Now, one missed kill was excusable, a stupid mistake, something that could be rectified easily. Two missed kills was Vaas' fault, a sign that he was being careless and needed to try harder. And three- Vaas was scared that he was going to fuck up a third time. Scared and pissed off that he even fucked up in the first place, twice even. Seeing that the bite wound had only drawn a meager amount of blood, Vaas trudged away from the scene of his humiliation, being sure to watch where he was stepping this time.

Vaguely, he remembered certain drugs that could be made with plants to enhance the senses during a hunt. Something about mixing plants with leaves of certain colors. He stopped a few times to tear the leaves from ground plants of varying kinds, but even with them in his hand, he couldn't remember what they did, or even if they did anything at all. He could barely even tell one herb from another, let alone understand how he was supposed to use them to make a drug. With a frustrated growl, he threw down the leaves and lashed out at a nearby fern, severing it toward its base.

And that's when Vaas found himself in the presence of a tiger cub, wandering around a clearing just ahead of him. It looked, well, it looked like any other miniature tiger, but it also looked like a very lost miniature tiger. The creature made Vaas think of himself. But it wasn't like him. But something was telling him that it was. Vaas liked things that were like him, mostly because there weren't a lot of things that were like him, let alone people or animals. With that in mind, he approached.

Vaas knelt down in front of the little cat, watching it sniff the ground. He had never seen a baby tiger up close, certainly not one without its mother. What struck him was the size. It had teeth, ears, claws, stripes, all exactly like a huge, dangerous, vicious tiger, but it was just a scrap of orange and black fur. Little enough that Vaas could just as easily kick it, or crush it, or bite its head off. But the weird thing was, he didn't want to. He kind of wanted to pick it up and feel it a little.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” he asked, only partially to the cub.

The cat looked up at him. It let out a long mewl, jaws stretched wide, showing off its tiny, razor teeth. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Vaas hissed. “You're going to get killed out here, bitching like that.”

It made no response to his words, but leaned down and licked its shoulder for a few moments. Once it was done, the cub sat down on the cool earth of the forest floor, flicking its ears about in no particular pattern and staring at Vaas. Not staring into his eyes, though, no, staring more at his mouth.

Vaas sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand. “I should just- I should cut your fucking head off.” He raised his blade above the animal, ready to make good on his words. Inside his mind, he brought the knife down and ended the whole ordeal right there, right then. It was just another tiger. He had killed hundreds before and prided himself on their deaths. This one kill was just another drop in the bucket.

But this tiger was so little. So pathetic. So lost. Just like him.

“Son of a bitch.”

Utterly disgusted with himself, Vaas dropped his blade before extending his opposite hand toward the tiger, barely avoiding touching its face. It stared at his wrapped fingers for a moment before leaning its neck towards him to take in his scent.

“Are you fucking retarded? Bite me!” he demanded.

It gave another cry, shriller than the last.

Vaas glared at the cub. He leaned forward to speak closer to its tiny face. “Didn't your mama ever teach you not to talk to strangers?”

The cub stuck out a light pink tongue to lick over its nose.

“Where the fuck is she anyway? Why isn't she mauling me right now?”

No response. Only that same stare from its wide, green eyes.

Vaas grabbed the cub by its scruff and lifted it with himself as he stood. “Tiger mama! Where the fuck are you?! I found your baby!” he shouted, giving the cub a brief shake.

The only response the jungle gave was the rustling of foliage as a breeze blew through. Even as the cub started wailing and batting at the air, no growls, no roars, and certainly no tiger stripes.

“I don't fucking believe it.” Vaas huffed, lowering the cub so he could see its face again, “What happened to your mama?”

Its cries had died down into whimpers and its eyes drooped lower and lower the longer Vaas held it.

“Did someone kill her? Some Rakyat fucker?” Vaas asked, pausing as though the furry thing would answer him. “Yeah, I'll bet. Same thing happened to me, you know.”

The cub's complaints died off completely and it drifted into a relaxed state. Taking the opportunity, Vaas pulled it towards his chest to cradle it on its side in the crook of his left arm. It was so small. Vaas could not get over how little it was. How could anything so tiny get to be so huge? How could anything so tiny live at all?

“Whatever happened, you're all fucking alone, aren't you?” Vaas asked, bringing his face down toward the tiger. “That fucking sucks. I hate being alone.”

The cub reached up and batted a soft paw at his cheek. Vaas had never realized how spongy a tiger's paws were. The sensation brought a smile to his face.

“You know what? You-” Vaas brought his free hand up to poke the bridge of the cub's nose. “-are coming home with me. And if- if any of the fuckers who I keep around don't like that, I will feed their asses to you. Would you like that? Hm?” he cooed, petting behind the tiger's ear.

The cub lifted its head and stretched its jaw in a drawn-out yawn before resting its head against his arm.

“Yeah, yeah, that's just how it'll be,” Vaas declared with a nod, “What do you think about that? Huh, tigrita?”

Vaas received no answer as he turned to head back to his island. His new friend had fallen asleep in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Still not sure if I'm totally satisfied with this piece. It's much more detailed and intricate than it originally was, about twice the length of the initial draft, but I'm still iffy on some bits.
> 
> Again, many thanks to Gaiusan for helping me with this and reading it through beforehand.
> 
> Any critiques, comments, thoughts, or whatever are all very appreciated. If I've made a mistake, I am very thankful to be rid of it as soon as possible.


End file.
